WILLEMSTAD, THE HAGUE - The Dutch National Archives are today putting the slave registers of Curaçao on the website. This makes it possible for everyone to conduct research, for example into the history of ancestors.
The archive will be online at 10 a.m. Curaçao time (4 p.m. in the Netherlands). The timing is no coincidence: it is Tula Day in Curaçao, which is the commemoration of the great Tula uprising against slavery, 225 years ago today.
Tula is a legendary figure in Curaçao. In 1795 he led an uprising of slaves who protested the poor living and working conditions on the plantations. After a few weeks, Tula was arrested and executed by the Dutch rulers.
The register contains an overview of about 21,000 people who lived in slavery on Curaçao between 1839 and 1863. There is also a registration of freed slaves. In 1863, those people who were freed from slavery were required to have a surname.
“Slaves were not allowed to have a surname,” says project leader Coen van Galen of Radboud University Nijmegen in the NOS Radio 1 Journaal. Together with the National Archives Curaçao and fellow historians, Van Galen researches the lives of the inhabitants of Curaçao between 1839 and 1950.
The online register is a godsend, especially for many Curaçaoans in the Netherlands. They do not have to come to the island specifically to search the archives. “Moreover, you really have to know how to search in it to find something,” says Van Galen. For example, there are many double names in the list, because when sold to another slave owner, a slave was re-registered.
Christel Monsanto agrees, who helps people in their search in the archive. "This register makes it a lot easier, but I think a lot of people still need help with this."
Monsanto is happy with the online registry. “It's wonderful,” she says to NOS correspondent Dick Drayer, before smiling. “I am really enjoying it. So many doors are opening, it's fantastic!”
"YOU KEEP SEARCHING"
One of the people who helps Monsanto is Anaisa Ravenstein. In order to claim an inheritance of 30 acres of land, Ravenstein had to prove that she and her family are descendants of the owner of that piece of land.
“When I started, I searched the archive every day, every day,” she says. “From Monday to Friday I was at the National Archives Curaçao. You immerse yourself in your past in such a way that you keep looking.”
In addition to the legacy issue, the search for Ravenstein was also an emotional process. “Whenever I found something, I cried with emotion. You are so happy when you have found something.” But sometimes it was also confronting, she says. "Christel has translated the sales deeds (of the traded slaves) Very clearly for us, that was really cruel to read."
Ravenstein has acquired something much more valuable with the knowledge from the archive. “Finally I know where I come from, where my family comes from. That way you respect your ancestors more. I am really proud.”
SURINAM'S SLAVE REGISTER
It is not the first slave register that is now online. Van Galen was previously also involved in the digitization of the Surinamese slave register. “Just the fact that you can continue looking for your own family, that does so much good for people. It is very nice to be able to participate in this,” he says.
The fact that both registers are now online does not mean that the investigation has been completed. "We try to map the entire population, both that of Curaçao and that of Suriname, between 1830 and 1850. Our aim is to see how the situation of people in slavery affects the subsequent generations."
Digitization is a good start for further research, which according to Van Galen will take a few more years. He himself does not yet know what the outcome of that investigation will be. "This is history and history is always slightly different than you expect."